Because he is not old enough to be apprenticed in the forge yet, and Pip's sister has decreed that he is not to be "pompeyed" (pampered), she sends him to do odd jobs and keeps whatever he earns. He also attends the evening school run by Mr. Wopsle's great-aunt. The school is a farce — the old woman sleeps through class. Biddy, an orphan like Pip and the woman's granddaughter, gives Pip extra help with his reading, writing, and numbers. Later, Pip shows Joe a letter he wrote, and Pip realizes Joe cannot read, although Joe tries to hide that fact. Pip is somewhat patronizing and asks Joe why he never went to school.
Joe explains that his father was an alcoholic who beat him and his mother, and rarely worked. Because Joe supported the family from a young age, there was no time for school. He finishes the story by telling Pip how lonely he was after his parents died and how happy he was to have Pip's sister join him at the forge. Pip is skeptical, but Joe is firm on this, and Pip is overwhelmed with gratitude to Joe for taking him in as a baby. He feels a new level of respect for the man. The two agree that Pip can teach Joe some of the things he has learned, but Mrs. Joe is not to know. She would feel threatened by Joe's improvements, because she likes to be in charge of things.
